I never imagined I would think this of an oil industry executive, but it's hard to watch images of former Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg taking the heat for BP's oil spill, the biggest American oil disaster. 

Svanberg has been chairman of BP only since January; before that, he spent about seven years at Ericsson, where he was widely credited for saving the company's hide. Whether he can save BP's hide is highly doubtful, but I'm sure many of the 86,500 people who work for Ericsson are pulling for their former CEO to make a better impression than BP chief executive Tony Hayward. 
Svanberg's image is all over Internet news sites today and he's sure to make a big splash on the evening news. Already, his comments about BP caring about the "small people" did not go over well. (What will Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert do when they get their hands on that?)

But things can get muddled in translation and as I listened to his statement, I knew the gist of what he meant. Svanberg himself was born in a small village in the Arctic Circle, and even while he may be making $1 million annually now, he doesn't seem like the kind of guy who would belittle people. He was trying to explain that BP cares about the local people and businesses. If you've ever heard him – or any number of people – speak at wireless conferences and on conference calls, you know there are times when things don't translate well from one language to another.

It was almost exactly one year ago when Svanberg announced he would be leaving Ericsson at the end of 2009. I remember because the announcement came last June just as I was leaving Stockholm after attending Ericsson's Business Innovation Forum. When I heard about it upon returning to the U.S., I remember wondering: Why he would want to take the position as chairman of BP? What was BP again? Oh, right, British Petroleum, the big oil company. So, OK, maybe it wasn't such a big stretch. He was dedicated to sustainability at Ericsson and maybe that would translate somehow (?) to the energy industry.

BP's press release at the time quoted BP's Hayward as saying the former BP chairman, Peter Sutherland, would be a "hard act to follow." But, he added, "I am sure Carl-Henric will be a worthy successor. He's a businessman of international stature who is recognized for his transformation of Ericsson. Our shared views on many aspects of global business give me great confidence that we will work very effectively together on the next phase of BP’s progress." Oh, boy, no one could have predicted the next phase of "progress."

Now Svanberg is getting blamed for not having a higher profile since the spill, but the chairman role at a European company is different than a chairman of a U.S. company. Traditionally, it's a non-executive position in Europe, and Svanberg would not necessarily be expected to play an active role in BP's day-to-day operations.

But how things change. One year, you're overseeing a telecom giant and boasting about sustainability; the next, you're apologizing for the worst oil spill ever and pledging $20 billion in payouts. 

The questioning tomorrow promises to be much more brutal when BP execs appear before a Congressional committee hearing. Right about now, Svanberg's move to BP looks like a really bad career move. (And former AT&T CEO Ed Whitacre's move to General Motors looks like sheer brilliance.) Svanberg's still a board member of Ericsson, but he won't be remembered for that. A lot of times, when people leave the wireless industry, they resurface later at another position in the industry. Usually they don't end up on the evening news next to images of oil-slicked pelicans.